There is something about the combination of poultry and apples that just sings. I have no idea why it works, but it just does. This dish, Pheasant Normandy, is a wild game variation a French classic done with chicken. I first learned about chicken Normandy while watching Emeril Lagasse, of all things; he made it on his stand-and-stir show a decade or so ago.

It is a simple mix of sweet onions, gently cooked apples, cider, cream, brandy and chicken… or pheasant in this case. There is no special technique involved here, no great difficulty or esoteric ingredients. This is comfort food, and all it asks of you is a little time.

Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Pheasant Normandy

I designed this recipe for skinless pheasant legs, which can be cooked entirely on the stovetop. If you have skin-on legs, you can crisp the skin in at 375°F oven at the end.

Obviously this will work with chicken, but it’s also great with partridges or ruffed grouse as well. You could also use wild turkey thighs.

Serves 4.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cooking apples, cored and sliced into wedges

Flour for dredging

4 to 6 pheasant legs (with thighs)

Salt

1 large onion, sliced root to top

1/2 cup Calvados or other apple brandy

2 cups apple cider

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

__________

Salt the pheasant legs and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a Dutch oven or another large, oven-proof pan over medium heat. Add the apple slices and sauté until they turn a little brown around the edges, turning occasionally. Sprinkle the apple slices with a little salt. Set aside on paper towels.

Dust the pheasant in flour and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan. Brown the pheasant for 3 to 5 minutes per side. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add the onion and increase the heat to medium-high. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until they just begin to brown, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Take the pan off the heat and pour in the brandy. Put the pan back on the heat and, using a wooden spoon, scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Let the brandy boil until it has reduced by about half. Add the cider and bring it to a boil. Add the thyme. Lay the pheasant legs in the pan, cover and simmer gently until tender, anywhere from 90 minutes to 2 1/2 hours.

Fish out the pheasant legs and strip the meat off the bones if you want to. Turn the heat to high, add the apples and boil down the sauce by half. When the sauce gets a little syrupy, turn off the heat and add the cream. Add salt to taste. Serve by spooning some apples and onions on everyone’s plate and topping it with the pheasant.

15 responses to “Pheasant Normandy”

Great idea, I’ve just got myself a couple of partridges so ill try it this week end. Here in the uk there’s a food writer called Diana Henry. In her book “food from plenty” she does a similar dish with apples and cider, I add some stock and pearl barly to it. She also does a variation with ale
And bacon which is worth checking out. It’s a great book.

This is one of my husband’s signature dishes and it is truly delicious. Pheasants are quite hard to come by in Provence, but in the UK in the countryside they are very cheap during the pheasant shooting season. We usually eat this at least once during the season, haven’t had it yet, so think it will be on the menu soon!

We just happened to have all the ingredients for this in the house….(well, not calvados, but we have a great neighborhood liquor store just around the corner)…it was wonderful! Great start for cooking up my son’s first few pheasants, I hope he has a long life of such tasty eating before him. Thank you!

I made this recipe last night and served it with pan fried rosemary potatoes, oven roasted carrots with peas, and a bottle of Albemarle Ciderworks Virginia Hewe’s Crab hard cider. My wife declared it one of the best meals she’s eaten, and who am I to argue? The meal was made even more satisfying by the fact that almost all ingredients were our own.

I have fallen in love with this website and all the recipes just leave me feeling sooo hungry. I have a friend whose hunting trip yesterday yielded 7 undressed pheasant for my deep freezer. I am looking to use one whole one skinned and am wondering if I can do this recipe with a whole skinned pheasant if cut into pieces?. Would I need to add breast meat last to the pan? Or should I just roast the bird and make a apple/cider gravy for the side?